Wolves Wild

Vegetation giving signs of spring in late December: butterbur flowering, a sticky horse chestnut bud, and catkins dangling. All were by the Avon at Stratford.

A pause for a brief preen near the lake, then the Egyptian goose stepped out to cross the path at West Park and stalk across one of the grassy areas in search of food.

Still on the tree, the last medlar. It was well-rotted, shrivelled and supporting patches of mould.

A black-headed gull reflected in the ice as it walked on the frozen lake in West Park during the mid-December cold spell.

Late December dawn over the canal basin at Stratford on Avon. One of the few advantages of the short mid-winter days is that gaudy dawns and sunsets happen at more civilised times of day.

Heath navels (Lichenomphalia umbellifera), tiny mushrooms, about as tall as the fruiting bodies of the moss they were growing beside, in the lichen and moss on the top of a garden wall I pass most days.